The Howard Wexler Brodie ’93 Center for Jewish and Israeli Law supports research and engagement with Jewish law, Israeli law, and their intersection. The Center is built on the idea that Jewish and Israeli law can provide valuable perspectives on broader legal and social discussions, while also benefiting from interactions with other legal and religious traditions. By promoting scholarship, research projects, events, and student reading groups, the Center pursues the creation of an open interdisciplinary academic forum for exploring various historical and contemporary issues related to Judaism and Israel.
The study of Jewish and Israeli law has a long tradition at Yale Law School, with notable contributions such as Robert Cover’s Nomos and Narrative, which assumed iconic status in the research of Jewish law. In collaboration with faculty throughout the University, the Center will reinvigorate the study of Jewish and Israeli law at Yale Law School and pioneer new research approaches. Specifically, it will develop a social science methodology distinct from the traditional law and humanities orientation, aiming to generate important new hypotheses and conversations.
The Center is named after Yale Law School graduate Howard Wexler Brodie ’93, whose generous gift made the Center’s launch possible.
The Center is directed by Shibley Family Fund Professor of Law Yair Listokin ’05, together with Ben Ohavi, the Center’s inaugural fellow.
